an an ordinary mind; nor has all the striving of all the world lifted
one man a foot above the plain towards heaven.

If these sentiments are pretentious, they show that one can learn at
least forwardness from philosophers, if not wisdom.

But it is not the Atheist that puzzles one so much as those who find it
convenient to admit the one point to start from--"There is a God," be He
styled in redundant reverence, "Nature," "Providence," or "Heaven." The
vacuity behind that is too dark and abysmal to be a home for their soul,
and therefore they will accompany you thus far.

This short creed is long enough to cover many different meanings, and
elastic enough to be worn, at least outside, for common decency, and to
fit almost any form of life and character.

Some men have never had more than this meagre garment. Others have been
swathed in more ample folds from the nursery, but have stripped off the
mental clothing of their childhood, feeling it tight, or encumbered with
braid and tassels, and some have torn it all to tatters; but at last, as
their inner being chills in the air of naked freedom, they take upon them
this creed as the one general raiment of prudence.

There may be quiet in this creed, for a time, if not comfort; but the
garment fails to warm the heart if indeed it even covers the head; and
the mind soon wonders whether God can _be_, and yet not _do_, and it
yearns to know what God has said and done. Instinct tells it that to
know the very truth upon this will make the man's creed a vascular body
for action, not a mere decent clothing. The mind begins its search for
this truth on a battle-field. It is a fight for peace as well as a
search for treasure. Facts have to be settled, in hot conflict, which
are felt to touch every point of life, and not mere fancies high in the
air, or thoughts too deep for common people. Each man fights
hand-to-hand here. Strategy and leaders avail not. Mere numbers on one
side or the other do not count for individual conviction; we are not
saved in bundles.

No man can keep out of reach of the turmoil, though many would be content
to remain as bystanders, secure from remark or disturbance, in a hazy
cloud where the only thing distinct is their denial that there is
anything definite. Their creed is not strengthened by its being vague
and curtailed. "Moral sense," "intuitive truth," "general
utility"--their ultimate appeal--is just as far out of reach of algebraic
lo